David Cameron today ordered an independent investigation - likely to be led by a judge - into whether an inquiry ignored claims a senior Tory was involved in child abuse in North Wales.

The Prime Minister said he would ask an independent figure to review the Waterhouse Inquiry into into abuse at the Bryn Estyn children’s home in the 1970s and 1980s.

It follows allegations that a senior unnamed Conservative was among those involved in abusing children but were not properly investigate at the time.

Allegations: The former Bryn Estyn children's home in North Wales

The Home Office and Wales Office are among departments which have been asked to look into fresh claims of abuse.

Speaking on a trade visit to the Gulf, Mr Cameron announced he would review the Waterhouse Inquiry to see if it was 'properly constituted'. He also announced Welsh Secretary David Jones will meet Mr Messham.

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The PM wrote on Twitter today: 'Child abuse is a hateful crime. Snr figure to lead independent investigation into claims of care home abuse in Wales - will report urgently.'

He later told reporters:'Child abuse is an absolutely hateful and abhorrent crime and these allegations are truly dreadful and they mustn't be left hanging in the air, so I'm taking action today.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who is on a trade visit to Dubai, is taking a 'close interest' in the child abuse allegations

'So I am taking
action today, first of all to make sure that Mr Messham can meet
urgently with the Secretary of State for Wales so he he can hear his
allegations and his points directly.

'Secondly, I am going to be asking a senior independent figure to lead
an urgent investigation into whether the original inquiry was properly
constituted and properly did its job and to report urgently to the
Government.

'But third, I would also urge anyone who knows anything about these
matters to go to the police. That is where evidence should be taken so
that action can be taken and we can deal with this dreadful, dreadful
issue.'

Downing Street said Mr Cameron was
taking a ‘close interest’ in the issue, as ministers face calls to meet
victims who have spoken out.

It comes after Mr Messham claimed in an interview with BBC’s Newsnight that he was taken out of Bryn Estyn and ‘sold’ to men for sexual abuse at a nearby hotel.

He wants to meet the PM discuss his own experiences at the home and his claim that a senior Conservative Party figure was among those involved in abuse.

Mr Messham said a senior Tory from the time, who was not named by the programme, had been involved.

But Labour MP Tom Watson, who last month claimed there was evidence linking a former No.10 aide to a paedophile ring, urged Mr Cameron to go further.

Writing an open letter on his blog, Mr Watson said: 'My advice to you as Prime Minister – and from one father to another – is that you need to order a special police investigation, outside the affected forces, with proper resources, to review all relevant police files and those of the intelligence services.

'If they have documents suggesting politicians in the Commons and Lords or others in positions of power were involved in child abuse then they should make them available to a new inquiry team.'

He claimed police forces in London, Surrey, West and South Yorkshire, West Mercia, Dorset, Kent, Essex, North Wales, Suffolk and Sussex could all be implicated.

Mr Watson has also made allegations involving child abuse and a former cabinet minister.

Mr Watson added: 'Your advisers will tell you to be wary of “opening the floodgates”. They are wrong. Their decorous caution is the friend of the paedophile. Narrowing the inquiry equals hiding the truth. That is the reality and it is not what you want.'

Downing Street said there was to be a separate process to consider the police response at the time of the original North Wales allegations.

Earlier, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told a briefing of journalists in Westminster that the allegations had to be properly investigated.

‘On this issue, it is something that we are looking at actively. The Prime Minister has taken a close interest in the reports and the allegations that have been made,’ the spokesman said.

‘We are very clear that those allegations need to be properly investigated and we need to get to the bottom of precisely what happened.’

Steve Messham claimed on BBC's Newsnight that he was abused by a Tory politician

Asked who within Government was looking into the allegations, the spokesman replied: ‘The Government is looking at this issue. These issues relate to a number of departments, so clearly it is something we are discussing with the Wales Office and the Home Office is involved in these issues too.

‘There are a number of departments that are involved and we at the centre are taking an active interest in the issue and looking at it very closely.’

Children’s Commissioner for Wales Keith Towler was today expected to write to Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones to demand an inquiry into the latest allegations.

Mr Towler said at the weekend: ‘I would support a full inquiry. The fact that we have someone on camera now who was clearly a victim of appalling abuse in Bryn Estyn children’s home back in the 1970s and 80s, saying that what he wanted to say was outside of the terms of reference, and people told him that he could not say these things and he couldn’t talk about people who had abused him, is clearly wrong.

‘The fact that he is now saying that and he has now said it so publicly means we have to respond to that.’

Today Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said he had requested 'urgent advice' on the original remit of the Waterhouse Inquiry, to help him determine whether a further investigation is needed.

Mr Jones added in a statement: 'An extensive inquiry into North Wales child abuse - the so-called Waterhouse Report - was published in 2000.

'It
was commissioned - before devolution began - by the then secretary of
state for Wales William Hague and reported to Paul Murphy, as secretary
of state, in 2000. It made extensive recommendations for improving child
protection, many of which were subsequently implemented by the Welsh
Government.

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones today announced he would meet Children¿s Commissioner for Wales Keith Towler

'I have asked for urgent advice on the terms of reference of the Waterhouse Inquiry at the time when it was set up.

'I need to understand fully what was included in those terms of reference and what was excluded. In due course that will enable me to consider, with others, whether any further inquiry might be necessary.

'One of the key recommendations of the Waterhouse Report was the establishment of a children's commissioner for Wales. I have invited Keith Towler to come in and see me tomorrow so that I can hear his thoughts directly.

'Finally, I would like to repeat that any victims of child abuse who feel their cases were not fully investigated, should come forward to the appropriate authorities which means the police or to the children's commissioner, not to political parties.'

The original tribunal into the abuse at Bryn Estyn in the 1970s and 80s heard evidence from more than 650 former residents of some 40 children’s homes between 1974 and 1990. It published its report in 2000. The inquiry identified 28 alleged perpetrators but they were never identified. It was also claimed a second senior Tory was named but a court order prevented it from being made public.

Bryn Estyn’s deputy head, Peter Howarth, was jailed in 1994 for ten years for sexually abusing boys. He died in jail.

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North Wales child abuse claims against a senior Tory are being investigated by the government